Creeping traction



Dec. 19, 1933. M. L. FYKSE El AL 1,939,634

CREEPING TRACTION Original Filed Sept. 11, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1] BY xu wi ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 19, 1933. M. FYKSE Er AL 1,939,684

CREEPING TRACTION Original Filed Sept. 11, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l/z'idell Z. @1256, (7722 5 Bauer.

I N V EN TORS.

y M,Wwr -d A TTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 19, 1933 CREEPING TRACTION Mitchell L. Fylise, South Milwaukee, and Harry E. Bauer, Milwaukee, 75s., assignors to Bucyrus-Erie Company, South Milwaukee, Wis.,

I a corporation of Delaware Original application September 11, 1930, Serial No. 481,164. Divided and this'appli ation September 10, 1931.

Serial Ne. 562,124

9 Claims. (01. 214-4525 Our invention relates to new and usefulfimprovements in creeping traction.

This application is a division of our application Serial No. 481,164, filed. September 11, 1930, for improvements in creeping traction. 1

Our principal object is to provide a creepingtraction mounting for excavators, cranes and the like, which shall possess in operation a base wider than railroad clearance for shipment.

It has been proposed in the past to solve this problem by building the traction-device so that its wheels will fall just within railroad clearance, and its treadswill extend beyond railroad clearance. Then, for shipping, the treads are removed, and the wheelsare run onto special rails on a flat-car. But this is only -a makeshift solution. In the first place, this requires the use of special rails. And, in the second place, this solution limits the wheelhase not only to the railroad clearance, but also to the width of the flat-car, which is always less than railroad clearance.

It is our object to-permit the use oeawheei base beyond the limit or the widthof a flat-car, and to employ ordinary railroad rails on the car.

Further objects are to'take the strain off the a Throughout the description, the same i refer; ence number is applied to the same member or.

to similar members.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that: Figure 1 shows in outline an excavator, loaded according to our method, for transporta tion. w

Figure 2 isa plan View, taken from below, showing details of our creeping traction mechanism.

Figure 3. is a, section of one side of the excavator of Figure 2, in its mounted position,

taken along the line 3--3of Figure 1.

Beginning at Figure 1, it will be seen that 10 is a railroad track, upon which are stationed a flat car, A, intended for the excavator proper,

and a second flat car, 13, upon which the acces' sories are to be placed.

in: the novel parts, and

Car A securely fastened to its upper surface a pair of rails, 11, spaced apart as hereinafter determined, upon which the excavator 12 is to be loaded in the. manner hereinafter described.

We have also provided a ramp 13, with rails l l securely fastened to its upper surface, the rails being spaced the same distance as the rails 11 on car so that, when the ramp is positioned,

that the excavator 12 mayreinain thereon without sliding. i

he excavator consists of the usual base 15, with creeping traction members, of which Figure 1 shows'onlythe side-frame 16, the tumblers 17 and 18 and the rollers 19, 20, 21; inasmuch as the tread-belt; (not shown in Figure 1) is to be removed befor'e the excavator is placed in the position shown. I

. The upper portion 22 oi the excavator l2, is capable of being revolved about the base 15,. and carries a deck 23, for the placing of the usual actuating machinery, such as the winch-drum'24, for actuating the hoist cable (notshown) which passes to a sheave atthe point of the boom 25. The boom is shown as alreadydetached, and laid upon the canaB. 7

The only other appliance carried bythe-deck with which our. invention is concerned is the A- frame 25,.whichis rhede collapsible in order to di ininish the 1162tl-1l30111 required in shipping. Member?! of the A-irame is pivoted at 28 to the support oiithe wlnch-drum 2 and to its other end 29 is' pivoted the member 30. The lower end of 39 is fastened to a yoke-shaped member 31, by a removable pin32. The A-irameis collapsed by removing pin. 32, and disposing the members as shown by the dotted lines, the member 2'1 being laid in theyoke of member 31.

Turning now toFigure 2, we have shown th side frames 16 as carrying on shafts the driving tumbler l7, idler tumbler l3, and. rollers 19, 20, 21.

Power is convey ed from theengine (not shown)- to the driving tumbler 17, by aysuccession of gears, 33, 34, 35.- 1

The driving tumbler lZ-isprovided with laterally projecting lugs 36, for driving engagement with the tread belt links, 37. 105

Each tread-belt link 37 is provided with a rela- 39. At each side of this surface 39'is an upstand distance apart.

. tinuous with those on the car.

. ther.

ing flange 40, having its central part cut away for the extrusion of dirt, these flanges being for driving cooperation with the laterally pro- J'ecting lugs 36 on the driving tumbler 17. The lugs 36 on the driving tumbler 17 and the flanges 40 are relatively so placed that, when the treadbelt curves about the tumbler, lugs 36 fall be tween the flanges 40 of successive links. The above-enumerated features of the tread-belt links are more particularly described in copending application, Serial No. 299,071 of Snyder, filed Aug. 11, 1928.

The load-supporting rollers, 19, 20, 21, and the idling tumbler 18, are disposed to run over the same narrow wheel-engaging channel 39 in which the driving tumbler runs.

As shown on Figure 2, the lower, inner edge of each side frame 16, has along its length a heavy flange 42, which is provided, on its upper surface, with a groove 43, into which a downwardly projecting flange 44 on the base 15, is stepped. A groove 45 extends along the lower surface of the flange'42. At the ends of the side-frames 16, the grooves 45 are somewhat curved vertically upward, to allow the easier placing on the rails of the ramp. v

The distance between the grooves 45 of the two side-frames 16 determines the distance between the rails 11 on car A, and the same distance between the rails 14 of the ramp; so that, when the excavator is set upon the ramp or upon car A, the grooves 45 will fit over the rails 11 or 14 respectively.

"Our invention contemplates the possibility of making an excavator of such large size that, when completely assembled, it will not be within railroad clearances; yet, when only a very few of its members are dismounted, leaving the excavator still capable of locomotion under its own power, themachine can then be shipped by rail,

without further disassembling.

For shipping purposes, we propose to remove the tread-belt 37, the dipper and handle (not shown), and the boom 25 When pin 32 is withdrawn from the yoke-shaped member 31 of the A-frame, and the A-frame is collapsed into the position shown in Figure 1 by dotted lines, the machine is ready for shipment. V The order of shipping operations is as follows:

The two flat cars, A and B, are placed a short The excavator is run up to the side of car B, and the dipper and handle are loaded on B.

'The ramp 13 is set at the end of car A, in such a position that the rails on the ramp are con- The ramp is then bolted to the car. 7

Car A is then anchored to the railroad rails by any convenient means. The outside girders of car A may be propped in any convenient manner, as by ties or preferably jacks. The wheels of the car are blocked, as by chocks placed inward of the inner wheels of the trucks.

The excavator isthen propelled to the lower end of the ramp, and is positioned so that the run up as far on the ramp as it will go, which will be until the traction belt makes insuflicient contact with the ground to propel the machine fur- In this position, the grooves 45 on the underside of the excavator engage the rails 11 of the ramp in the same manner as they are shown, in

Figure 3, engaging the rails of the car, and the excavator bears the same relation with respect to the rails of the ramp as it bears in Figure 1 with respect to the rails of the car.

The traction belt is then disconnected, by removing the connecting pin between two links at that end of the upper reach of the belt which is nearer to car A. The upper reach of the traction belt is then laid back on the ground.

Loading tackle is then attached to some convenient point on the front of the machine and to some convenient point on the further end of the car, and the cable is attached to the winch drum 24.

This cable is then used to haul the machine up on the ramp and upon the car. During this process the rails are greased to facilitate sliding. Car B is then brought sufiiciently near that the excavator may be used as a crane for loading the various detachable parts upon car B.

The tread belt is loaded on car B.

The ramp is. unbolted' and loaded on car B,

The excavator is then hauled,,by means of the loading tackle, to the center of car A, so that the excavator occupies the position shown in Fig, ure 1. It will be noted that the tumblers 17, 18

clear of engagement with the car A or with anything else. The two cars are. coupled together. The boom is swung towards car B, and lowered upon ties placed on car B to receive it.

The A-frame is lowered as hereinbefore described, using any convenient. lowering means, such as gin-pole and cable.

The machine is then blocked for shipment.

For unloading, these operations are reversed, except that the rails on car A and on the ramp are sanded instead of greased.

Having now described and illustrated one form of our invention, we wish itto be understood that our invention is not to be limited to the specific form or arrangement of parts hereinbefore described, except in so far as such limita'. tions, a ec ed i the appended claims.

W c a m;

1. In combination with a creeping-traction eh c havin a henzee ns n its. under a id an. cu ated endless. tread-h ltr danted: to

encircle the ming-se r oith vehicle, and adap ed t e isconnected at, an articulated joint; ashipping conveyor; and; a shipping track treads are clear of the ground; disconnecting and removing the tread-belt; sliding the vehicle up the ramp to a position on the railroad car, with the under-frame of the vehicle supported by shippingtracks on the car; and removing such parts of" the vehicle as extend beyond the railroad clearance limits.

3. The process of preparing creeping-traction vehicles for railroad shipment, which consists in: moving the vehicle into such position that its under-frame is supported by a ramp, and its treads are clear of the ground; sliding the vehicle up the ramp to a position on the railroad, car, with the under-frame of the vehicle supportediby shipping-tracks on the car; and removing such,

' the remainder of the vehicle falling within railroad clearance; and a shipping-track on the car, adapted to support the vehicle at the'rail-engaging means thereof, so as to utilize, to the fullest extent, the available railroad clearance, even beyond the width of the car.

5. In combination: a railroad fiat-car of such size as to fall within railroad clearance; a creeping-traction vehicle, having its tread-belt of such size as, when mounted on a railroad car, to extend beyond railroad clearance, and having railengaging means on its underside within its wheels; and a shipping-track on the car, adapted to support the vehicle at the rail-engaging means thereof.

6. In combination: a railroad fiat-car of such size as to fall within railroad clearance; a creeping-traction vehicle, having its tread-belt of such size as, when mounted on a railroad car, to extend beyond railroad clearance, and having railengaging means on its underside within its wheels; some of the traction wheels of the vehicle falling within railroad clearance; and a shippingtrack on the car, adapted to support the vehicle at the rail-engaging means thereof, so as to utilize,

to the fullest extent, the available railroad clearance, even beyond the width of the car.

7. In a creeping traction vehicle, the combination of: two running gears; two articulated treadbelts, one adapted to encircle each of the running gears, and adapted to be disconnected at an articulated joint; and two means, each extending lengthwise of the vehicle, and between the two running gears, adapted to rest on a rail, and thereby support the weight of the vehicle for shipment. e

8. In a creeping-traction vehicle, the combination of: two running gears; two articulated treadbelts, one adapted to encircle each'of the running gears, and adapted to be disconnected at an articulated joint; and two grooves, each extending lengthwise of the vehicle, and between the two running gears, adapted to rest on a rail, and thereby to support the weight of the vehicle for shipment.

9. In combination with a creeping-traction vehicle; two articulated endless tread-belts, adapted to encircle the running gears of the vehicle, and adapted to be disconnected at an articulated joint; two lengthwise grooves on the underside of the vehicle, within the running gear; a shipping conveyor; and a shipping track of ordinary railroad rails thereon, adapted to engage the grooves to support the vehicle; the tread-belts extending outwardly beyond the running-gears.

MITCHELL L. FYKSE. HARRY E. BAUER. 

